Chapter 61—The Pods

"Jojo's gone again?" Taylor said. "Jojo, Jojo! Are you trying to scare us to death?"

"Stash your crystals," Chaz said. "Let's go find him." He felt better but was still impatient.

The lights blinked as everyone put their crystals away, and the team split up to search the large jungle-like room.

A massive leaf approached Taylor. It looked like an open pod from a vegetable garden, only a hundred times bigger. Taylor screeched and grabbed her brother's arm. Chaz backed away. Within seconds the pod settled down to the floor. And there was Jojo behind it.

"Look what I found," he exclaimed, as if he'd found a stash of gold bullion.

"Geez, Jojo, you scared us half to death," Tip said, as he wiped his glasses and sweaty forehead. "I've had enough horror-movie minutes for one day. What is that thing?"

"This is our escape vehicle. There's an entire tree of them, plenty of pods for all of us."

Chaz removed his hat and brushed his wiry hair. "You're not thinking what I think you're thinking...are you?" Everyone glared at Jojo, fearing the worst.

"If I remember this mountain right, a river runs out the east side. I believe this is the same river. We can use it to escape the mountain—on the pods."

"And if it's not?" Chaz asked. "What if we end up miles away from where we went in?"

"Even if we do, we know all rivers lead to the sea. At least it'll take us out of the caves. And we won't have to cross the blue grotto again. Wherever we end up, we can get a lift back to the Woody."

"What if the opening is too small and we get crushed?" Tip scowled. "Or fall off and lose the crystals—or worse, all drown? I don't know about you, but I've had as much spelunking adventure as I can stand."

The team started to argue, everyone talking over each other. No one relished crossing the blue grotto or climbing the rope ladder again. But neither did they want to risk a river excursion through the inside of a mountain to who knows where.

"Quiet! Calm down, mates," Jojo said. "What say I ask Kuthumi for guidance?"

"Well, hurry up," Chaz said. "I don't want to be here all night." He reached for his wrist, which was screaming for him to get out of there and go rest in a splint.

Jojo walked to the giant pod tree. Holding his amulet, he slipped into a trance. He knew neither choice was an easy way out. They could wait to get rescued, except their phones didn't work this deep inside the mountain, and they'd probably run out of food before anyone found them—or their bones. No matter what, they were in trouble.